POLS 2503 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Central Limit Theorem, Statistical Parameter, Statistical Inference
11 Oct 2017
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Population the entire universe of cases relevant to a study from which a sample is drawn: we can never know the true population characteristics. Sample a subset of units relevant to the study, derived from the population. Should avoid systematic bias: the basis of inference. Two types of sampling: random everyone in the population has the same chance of being included in the sample, non-random systemically choosing a sample from a population; more subject to selection bias, convenience, quota, snowball. Sample statistic a summary of characteristics of patterns in sample data; a best guess of the population parameter. Population parameter the characteristics of a population; truth. Sampling error the fundamental barrier to all knowledge claims; the natural variation between the sample and the population. Solution: inferential statistics a set of procedures for deciding how closely a relationship in the sample is to the relationship in the population.
